Russia, Ukraine and the West have reached a compromise to try to ease the
Ukrainian crisis, in a glimmer of hope for the former Soviet republic that
risks splitting in two

Vladimir Putin has secured key concessions from Ukraine and its Western supporters as the Kremlin was offered a central role in determining the future of its neighbour and former client state.

Four-way talks in Geneva involving Kiev and Moscow, alongside the US and EU, called for steps to end the occupation of eastern cities by pro-Russian sympathisers.

If the agreement holds, a monitoring mission of the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe would oversee the handover of occupied government buildings by protesters in return for an amnesty for anyone not facing capital crimes.

Ukraine’s interim government in turn agreed to accept future talks on far-reaching constitutional reform that would grant the Russian-speaking east the extensive autonomy demanded by the Kremlin.

There was little detail however on how the parties could meet the challenge of persuading the pro-Russian protest movement to withdraw from public buildings as well as convince the anti-Russian militia groups in western Ukraine to accept Russia demands for all armed groups to disband.

President Barack Obama warned that the West could not count on Russia to honour the terms of an agreement to ease tensions in eastern Ukraine and that the US was prepared to further ramp up sanctions against Moscow if it failed to uphold the deal.

Hours after talks in Geneva produced the surprise agreement the president struck a sceptical note.

"My hope is that we actually do see follow-through over the next several days, but I don't think, given past performance, that we can count on that," Mr Obama said.

The deal remains fraught with problems and may not be able to surmount the divisions between the pro-EU government in Ukraine and the Moscow-leaning eastern regions.

Ukrainians take part in a nationalist and pro-unity rally in Donetsk (AFP)

Protesters in Donetsk’s occupied administration building have already nearly come to blows over the question of whether or not they would quit the building for an amnesty. So it is not clear that the turmoil unleashed so far can be easily put back in the bottle.

The agreement will also be a test not just of Russia’s sincerity, but of the Western assumption that Mr Putin and his cohorts are closely orchestrating events on the ground.

In a demonstration of the difficulties ahead, a separatist leader in eastern Donetsk declared the first concession must come from the revolutionaries that drove out former president Viktor Yanukovych after occupying central Kiev for months.

Alexander Zakharchenko, a protest leader inside the Donetsk regional government building, said: “If it means all squares and public buildings, then I guess it should start with the Maidan in Kiev. We’ll see what they do there before we make our decision here.”

During the Russian President’s annual marathon television phone-in the Russian leader confirmed for the first time that Russian troops had been involved in the Kremlin’s takeover of the Crimea in February.

He asserted that Russia retained the right to intervene in the eastern Ukraine region, pointing out that Russia had the “right” to send troops into Ukraine to protect the Russian-speaking population.

“I very much hope that I am not obliged to use this right,” said Mr Putin.

Provocatively, he referred to as “Novorossiya”, the historical term used in Russia as the country’s borders were extended to the Black Sea in the Tsarist era. But he denied Russian troops were present in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has set nerves on edge by massing tens of thousands of troops at the border and has warned Kiev’s untested new leaders - whom it does not recognise as legitimate - not to unleash force in Ukraine.

The Geneva deal puts on hold the additional economic sanctions the West had threatened to impose on Russia in retaliation for the perceived orchestration of the violence.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, declared the crisis would not resolved by seizing buildings but added all sides must refrain from the threat of violence.

“The Ukrainians themselves must resolve this crisis,” Mr Lavrov said. “It gives us hope that the US and the EU are showing genuine interest to use this four-way format to convince Ukrainians to resolve this by themselves.”

Andriy Deshchytsia, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said the deployment of the OSCE, would demonstrate that Ukraine was not attacking its own people. “We look to OSCE to make sure force not used,” he said. “Ukraine will not use force first.”